Thursday, 10 April 2014

Fermentation Nation: Shio Koji - Chicken Wings and more

I'd been reading about what an amazing flavor enhancer Shio Koji was for a couple of years. Apparently it really delivers that "sixth flavor". This fermented product made is from rice, inoculated with aspergillus oryzae, a "domesticated mold" used in the making of sake, miso, and other products, with salt added. The enzymes in shio koji; proteases,breaks down the proteins to amino acids, of which glutamate, has a major part of delivering the "umami", lipase breaks down fats, and amylase, which breaks down starches into simple sugar. There's apparently a lot going on here.....

So naturally, when I saw something marinated in Shio Koji on a menu, I couldn't help but order it, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. It left me disappointed and let's be frank, kind of pissed off.

How could something that has been raved about in Japan over the last couple of years be so....well....weak? So on one of our trips to Nijiya, I bought a bottle. The Missus thought I was nuts. This mildly grainy, gluey substance did what?

It does taste like salty, crude, rice wine.......the stuff you'd make in a jail cell......

One thing for sure......this thing will burn quickly if you're not careful. The wings were really tender, the skin actually got somewhat crispy, the flavor was good. A flavor like mild miso marinade, so complex, perhaps a tad too salty......I went overboard with the shio koji....but as salty as it seemed, we weren't bothered with any of the effects of too much sodium. It could have been sweeter, but man....we were hooked!

The Missus wanted me to do this again....the next day! This time I wanted a more well rounded flavor, without drowning out all the wonderful "umami" from shio koji....which is pretty hard to do. So here's the marinade for the same 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings. Marinaded overnight.

I should mentioned that I don't put togarashi in the marinade. I sprinkle it on right before grilling. Man, this stuff goes really fast and I had to be on top of it. In the end, there was some char....which by the way, is delici-yoso....

Other than having to really be on top of the grilling, this stuff is a total no-brainer......

After our first foray into wings, I went to look for other uses and told the Missus that folks are using shio koji for salad dressing, and you know what, the Missus really got into it.

It does make a really good dressing, with balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and I don't know what else the Missus puts into the salad. I hate fruits in my salads; but man, the strawberries are really wonderful in this....even the chia seeds! Sorry to say, the Missus can't even tell me portions and such......otherwise I'd give you a recipe. But we had salads three days in a row......

Haha my lab actually works on one of the enzymes from Aspergillus... Not from orzyae though, it does have to do with starch degradation. Anyhow, this is pretty fascinating to me from both scientific and culinary perspectives. I may have to pick up a bottle and try it out for myself :) for sharing!!

I've been daily reader for years but never posted.
I recommend making your own. I use a tub of Cold Mountain Koji from Nijaya. For $8, some sea salt and water you can make about 8 cups or so.
I use 1T per pound of meat some times a little more. It is the secret to everything from Thanksgiving turkey, scrambled eggs and yes through some in your poke. I make smaller batches of shoyu koji for beef which is amazing.

Hi Barry - First off thanks for reading all these years, I appreciate it! Actually, you wouldn't guess what's in our fridge right now??? Or would you? Thanks again for reading and (finally) taking the time out to comment!

As I get older a lot of fermented foods I thought were too funky tasting when I was younger I started to like a lot more. It seems the fermentation process for savoury foods always ups the amount of umami taste, which is awesome. Will have to stop by this place and pick up a bottle of this stuff. Any other ideas on what/how it can be used besides chicken wings??

Hi Kyle - I'm glad your wife liked the chicken, thanks for letting me know how it turned out. I buy my bincho at either Nijiya - they have better product, but only off and on. Sometimes it's in a wrapper styrofoam tray or in a brown paper bag. Marukai living also has bincho, located in Marukai living by the grills.